1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of housings and rack systems for the storage and positioning of electrical equipment and, more particularly, to devices having chassis attached handles that facilitate team lifting of chassis that contain heavy electrical equipment.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
It is common practice to deploy advanced electronics systems in racks, such as standard Electronic Industries Association (EIA) equipment racks. The EIA racks are conventionally found and used in research and development operations, as well as commercial operations, and generally comprise a series of bays that permit the stacking of components one atop the other. Roller slides are used to hold instruments in stacked arrangement and while facilitating removal or movement of each unit out of alignment for replacement, servicing and/or modification.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,533 discloses a rackmount chassis that adapts a standard personal computer for rack usage by encapsulating the personal computer. A handle is built into the side of the chassis for lifting of the assembly. The handle is formed of a dual-pivoting assembly in which the grasping portion of the handle that pivots on its axis of elongation. At least four pivoting operations are required to deploy the handle for lifting operations. Due to the positioning of his handle, the lifting operations are ergonomically incorrect, as the lifter""s lifting strength and grip are significantly weakened due to the twisting and bending motion of the wrist. This weakening occurs because the lifter""s hand must engage the side-mounted handle in a handshake configuration as the lifter pushes the chassis forward.
Handles for lifting of electronic equipment cease to be a mere convenience and become a necessity when heavier items are being installed. For example, network server packages can weight from one hundred to five hundred pounds (45 to 230 kilograms). Team lifting of these heavier items is a necessity. In some instances, the chassis that is being lifted contains handholds that facilitate lifting. These handholds impose a burden that the wrists of the lifters are not optimally aligned with the chassis, and create a significant risk of injury to the lifters and damage to the equipment. In other instances, handles are temporarily attached to the chassis. These handles are removed after the equipment is installed, and it is a significant inconvenience that the handles often cannot be found when it is time to remove the chassis from the rack or to reposition the chassis in the rack. When the handles cannot be found, the lifters normally attempt to move the chassis without the handles. Again, there is significant risk of injury to the lifters or equipment damage in the attempt to move the chassis with improper lifting equipment.
There remains a need to provide lifting devices that remain attached to a chassis for electrical equipment when the equipment resides in an equipment rack, where the devices may be selectively deployed for lifting operations in positions that are ergonomically correct for team-lifting purposes.
The present invention overcomes the problems that are outlined above by providing lifting devices that remain attached to a chassis for electrical equipment when the equipment resides in an equipment rack. The devices may be selectively deployed for lifting operations in positions that are ergonomically correct for team-lifting purposes.
The chassis in its preferred embodiments houses electrical equipment that is coupled to an equipment rack. The entire package including the chassis and the electrical equipment may, for example, weigh several hundred pounds, in which case the lifting devices are amenable to team-lifting applications.
The preferred chassis comprises a housing that is configured for internally retaining electrical components in operable condition, such as the various printed circuit boards, power supplies, cell boards, and fan cooling systems in a telecommunications server. The housing presents dimensions of height, width, and depth. At least one handle is connected to the housing and includes a first end and a second end distal from the first end. A telescoping rail assembly is coupled with the housing for extensile and de-extensile motion of the housing in the depth dimension. A pivot assembly includes a pivot-mounting bracket that is coupled with the housing, and a pivot linkage, such as a hinge pin, that couples the pivot-mounting bracket with the first end of the handle to permit pivoting of the second end across an arc. The pivot linkage permits the first end of the handle to travel a greater distance across the arc than does the second end, so that handle positioning along the arc comprises a retracted position where the second end resides adjacent the housing and an extended position where the second end resides away from the housing to occupy a greater width dimension than does the second end at the retracted position.
In particularly preferred embodiments, the housing comprises a sidewall having a recessed portion and a non-recessed portion of relatively greater width than the recessed portion. The pivot-mounting bracket and the telescoping rail assembly are both attached to the recessed portion. Thus, the second end of the handle in the retracted position occupies a position that does not interfere with depthwise extensile and de-extensile motion of the telescoping rail assembly.
A support bracket may be used to support the chassis while the telescoping rail assembly is being attached to the electrical equipment rack. The support bracket includes a wall segment that is rotatably fastened to the housing, and a wing extending from the support wall. In one configuration, the support bracket occupies an assembly support position above the telescoping rail assembly for support of the chassis during assembly of the telescoping rail assembly to the chassis. After attachment is complete, the support bracket may be selectively rotated into a position of normal use where the wing does not interfere with extensile and de-extensile motion of the telescoping rail assembly.
Additional handles and support brackets as are described above, may be provided, as needed to facilitate team lifting operations. For example, a total of three additional handles may be positioned on the chassis for team-lifting purposes.
A method of using the structures that are described above comprises the steps of providing the structures, pivoting the handle to the second position; lifting the housing through use of the handle, placing the wing of the support bracket on the electrical equipment rack for support of the housing, attaching the telescoping slide assembly to the electrical equipment rack, and repositioning the support bracket on the housing to a position that does not interfere with depthwise translation of the chassis due to extensile and de-extensile motion of the housing in the depth dimension.